Russia’s defence ministry preparing attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure as death toll from warehouse strike rises to 38. What we know on day 1,650

Russia’s defence ministry says it is gearing up for large-scale attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure in a tit-for-tat response to strikes by Kyiv. “Russian forces have begun preparations for massive strikes against facilities in Ukraine’s energy sector in response to the ongoing attacks by the Kyiv regime on civilian infrastructure and on Russia’s oil and energy complex,” it said on Telegram on Sunday. Last winter, Moscow repeatedly hit Ukrainian power plants, devastating the country’s energy sector and plunging millions of people into cold and darkness in sub-zero temperatures.

In comes as the death toll from a Russian strike on a warehouse west of Kyiv rose to 38, with four people still missing, making it the deadliest attack of the year, Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said on Sunday. The Friday night strike on the warehouse, which Ukrainian officials said was storing ammunition, sparked massive explosions and fires that swept through dozens of nearby homes and buildings in the village of Myla.

Russian strikes on Kyiv on Saturday killed a 2-year-old girl and injured 12 others, the capital’s mayor, Vitali Klitschko, said. In the village of Bilbasovka in eastern Ukraine, a 13-year-old and an adult died after Russian troops dropped bombs on private houses on Sunday, according to local official Vadim Lyakh.

Meanwhile, a ⁠missile attack killed two ⁠people and ⁠injured another ​16 in the Russian ⁠city of Belgorod, close ⁠to the ​border ‌with ‌Ukraine, on ‌Sunday evening, the acting governor, Alexander Shuvayev, said on ‌Telegram. He said two ​people were killed after Ukraine hit ⁠a commercial facility, ​with the ​attack ​also causing ​fires ‌in ​seven ​warehouses in the city. Another ⁠person ⁠was ​killed ⁠in a Ukrainian ​attack ‌on ‌a mine ‌in the Russian-controlled ‌part of the Luhansk ​region ⁠in ​eastern Ukraine, ​the ​region’s Russian-installed ​governor, ‌Leonid ​Pasechnik, ​said.

Ukraine wants ⁠to bring forward part of ⁠a European ⁠Union ​loan earmarked for next year ⁠to help cover a $27bn budget ⁠deficit this year, ​said its defence ‌minister, Yevhenii Khmara. In comments to ‌reporters released on Sunday, he added that Kyiv’s war plan must be ‌clear to Ukraine’s partners, as well ​as across the military chain of command.

Khmara also said ⁠Ukraine has tested ​four ​potential interceptors to ​shoot down the ​jet-powered ‌drones ​Russia ​is increasingly firing at Ukraine. Swarms of the high-speed drones have plagued the capital Kyiv for four consecutive days, killing residents, damaging homes and warehouses and upending daily life.

Ukraine ⁠is preparing for further talks ⁠with ⁠representatives of ​the US president, Donald Trump, Zelenskyy said on ⁠Sunday. “There will ​be ‌more details ‌tomorrow. We ‌will do everything we can so that war does not remain ‌the only option for ​how events unfold further. It is important that ⁠America shares ​many of our ​views on ​the situation,” ​he ‌said ​in ​a televised statement.

A Nato official said on Sunday Russia is stepping up hybrid ⁠acts in Europe, but that at this time the alliance sees no imminent threat ⁠of attack. “Even as ⁠the ​Russians are facing very substantial resistance from Ukraine, they are stepping up attacks on Ukraine ⁠as well as hybrid acts in Europe,” the official said. “As always, Nato remains vigilant and alert to ⁠the variety of threats we face. At this time, we ​see no imminent threat ‌of attack,” the official ‌said, adding: “We continue to stand with Ukraine. And Nato continues ‌to work around the clock to keep our one billion people safe.”

US says it attacked Larak Island to prevent launch of sea mines, prompting reprisals against airbases used by US forces, with tanker fire also reported in strait

Iran has launched retaliatory strikes on airbases in Jordan and the United Arab Emirates after the US attacked Iranian rocket launchers in the strait of Hormuz, the first such hostilities in a month.

Hours later, Iranian state TV later reported that a supertanker had caught fire after hitting two naval mines while attempting to pass through the southern side of the strait. It ‌did not identify the vessel or provide information ​about its crew.

Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia plant has 10-day diesel supply on site; Kyiv investigates deadly attack on warehouse. What we know on day 1,649

The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine has been without off-site power for more than a week and is now relying on emergency diesel generators, the UN’s nuclear watchdog says. The plant, which needs power to keep its six non-operating reactors cool, has only a 10-day diesel supply on site, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said on Saturday.

“The availability of diesel fuel is of paramount importance whenever a nuclear power plant loses off-site power,” said agency director general Rafael Grossi. “The current situation once again shows why reliable external power and secure supply routes are indispensable for nuclear safety and security.” The plant had been supplied with diesel on Thursday and Friday from another off-site location, the IAEA added.

Zaporizhzhia lost its regular power supply “following military activity on the northern side of the Dnipro River”, the statement said. The IAEA said it was trying to negotiate a local ceasefire to allow repairs to electrical lines. The plant, in southern Ukraine, was seized by the Russian army in March 2022 and its six reactors have been shut down since that year.

Germany is reportedly preparing to blame Russia for an attempted drone attack at Leipzig airport and impose sanctions on Russian entities. Friedrich Merz’s government is expected to announce the “extensive” measures in the next week, Politico reports, potentially alongside a new EU sanctions package.

Ukrainian prosecutors have opened an investigation into why munitions were stored so close to homes after a deadly Russian attack on a warehouse storing “explosive objects” near Kyiv’s western suburbs. At least 37 people were killed in the attack on the warehouse in Myla on Friday, making it the war’s deadliest attack this year, Donna Ferguson reports.

The attack damaged at least 50 residential buildings, including a care home for elderly and disabled people, and sparked a huge fire and explosions in the Bucha district of the Kyiv region. The regional governor, Tymur Tkachenko, said a further 42 people, including four children, had been injured in the strike.

The warehouse was a depot owned by the Ukrainian military and stored shells, drones and other munitions, Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a video address. “The first impact was on a place where ammunition was being stored that absolutely should not have been there – a depot of the defence forces. [There was] detonation of shells, mines, other munitions and drones on a significant scale,” the Ukrainian president said.

Finland’s president said he did not believe Russia would risk an attack against a ⁠Nato country, with Alexander Stubb telling the Bild newspaper that it would “make no sense” to test the resolve of the alliance. “I simply see neither evidence nor facts to support it,” ​he told Bild, adding that he ‌did not believe that Russia “would ever want to attack Nato, the world’s most powerful military ‌alliance”.

Stubb, whose country joined Nato in 2023, said the alliance had to be prepared for any scenario but he did not believe Moscow was in a position to go to war with Nato. “It makes no sense ​for any power in the world to test the resolve of this alliance.”

US president says US will have ‘majority’ control of 65bn barrels of proven oil reserves

Donald Trump announced Friday a new US oil agreement with Venezuela’s interim president Delcy Rodríguez, saying the US will have “majority” control of 65bn barrels of proven oil reserves.

The terms of the agreement remain to be seen, but the US president said on his social-media platform that it had been brokered “through a partnership with ⁠private business” by his secretary of state, Marco Rubio, and defense secretary, Pete Hegseth.

US president says US will have ‘majority’ control of 65bn barrels of proven oil reserves

Donald Trump announced Friday a new US oil agreement with Venezuela’s interim president Delcy Rodríguez, saying the US will have “majority” control of 65bn barrels of proven oil reserves.

The terms of the agreement remain to be seen, but the US president said on his social-media platform that it had been brokered “through a partnership with ⁠private business” by his secretary of state, Marco Rubio, and defense secretary, Pete Hegseth.